


we all fall down.

by coronaofastar



Category: Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (2018)
Genre: (y'all saw the movie you know what's going on), Discrimination, Friendship, Gen, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-29 01:18:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13916286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coronaofastar/pseuds/coronaofastar
Summary: They’re pushed into the back of the transport truck, a metal-wire enclosed space with hard metal benches. Eliza’s eyes go straight to cylindrical objects mounted on the walls, things she suspects of being small torches, and decides against telling Bonzo.“Sit,” an officer barks brusquely. They each get a bench to themselves, Zed sitting across from her and Bonzo to her right, and are uncuffed and re-cuffed to welded metal brackets on the benches. The boys have to hunch a little so their heads don’t bump and scrape against the ceiling. “We’ll get moving in a minute. Be quiet.”The missing scene from Z-O-M-B-I-E-S, when Zed, Eliza, and Bonzo are taken away.





	we all fall down.

**Author's Note:**

> If you are reading this anywhere but ao3, it has been reposted without permission. Please let me know.
> 
> I just wanted you to know that one of Eliza's sentences near the end has a murder-ish ring to it, but please know that it's supposed to be a metaphor. If you have any ideas on how to fix the phrasing, please let me know.

 They’re pushed into the back of the transport truck, a metal-wire enclosed space with hard metal benches. Eliza’s eyes go straight to cylindrical objects mounted on the walls, things she suspects of being small torches, and decides against telling Bonzo.

 “Sit,” an officer barks brusquely. They each get a bench to themselves, Zed sitting across from her and Bonzo to her right, and are uncuffed and re-cuffed to welded metal brackets on the benches. The boys have to hunch a little so their heads don’t bump and scrape against the ceiling. “We’ll get moving in a minute. Be quiet.”

 It’s not unkind. Eliza’s certainly heard worse than this. But she still flinches when the doors slam shut, leaving them in relative darkness. The only light comes through the glass up ahead, from the windshield and side windows.

 The silence is thick with dread and tension until Bonzo asks - croaks, really - “Zhut zhakkis?” _What happened?_

 Zed’s faint outline slumps. There’s a _thunk_ that’s probably him leaning back against the wall, but he doesn’t say anything. The optimist of this group has been defeated at last.

 “Zhut zhakkis?” Bonzo asks with more urgency this time, a pleading note to his tone. He looks from Eliza to Zed, and then back to Eliza again.

 “Yes, what happened, Zed?” Eliza bites out. Even as she says the words, she knows her acid is misdirected. This is hardly Zed’s fault. “Sorry. That was uncalled for.”

 “No, it was my fault,” Zed says quietly. He exhales, and hunches forward, elbows on his knees. “Should’ve never done the hack in the first place.”

 Anger and despair war in her, but the dominant emotion is guilt, like a smarting wound. _Should’ve never trusted them, should’ve known better, shouldn’t have hacked the Z-bands at all._ Then, like flipping a switch, her emotions coalesce into slow, seething, bitter fury she’s been nursing for years - _why is she feeling guilty, when she’s not the one who turned them full-zombie?_ \- and then reverts back into plain old misery. Repeat cycle. “ _We_ never should have done it,” Eliza corrects, and glances at the one true innocent in this mess. “Sorry, Bonz.”

 Bonzo shrugs with one shoulder, a limp gesture. _“You weren’t the one controlling it.”_

 “I bet it was one of the cheer squad,” Zed says abruptly. “One of Bucky’s friends.”

 The fury floods in, full-force. “We shouldn’t have messed with the bands, but at least we were trying to do something good. Look what they did to us.” She looks over at Zed, a mirthless laugh on her tongue. “Still think it was improvement, Zed? Still think they’re ever gonna treat us equally? Still think they’re _good_?”

 There’s a bit too much bitterness on the last word. Zed’s head snaps up. “Yes, I do,” he growls. “Because we’re people like they are, Eliza, and we’re not always good, but we try.”

 “Try?” asks Eliza incredulously, flinging her arms up. Cuffed as she is, her wrists just slam hard into metal. “They _try_? Are you sure about that? Do you even know where we are right now? You were their star, Z, and they turned on you like _that_. Just because your girlfriend’s a decent being doesn’t mean - ”

 “I KNOW,” Zed shouts, a cry of hopeless defeat.

 They fall back into a loaded silence. Eliza’s won the argument, but it hardly feels like winning. Exhaustion washes through her - the sudden switch to full-zombie, coursing through her cells, had filled her with a raw, manic energy. Now that it’s gone, she feels its loss, a reminder that she is neither here nor there. Not quite zombie, but not quite human. Not quite human enough.

 “I know it’s stupid and naive,” Zed says softly. “But I dream that things will change, that one day we can get pets and have actual classes of our own. I dream that Zoey could be a cheerleader someday. I still believe in all that.”

 Eliza’s heart aches. For her friends, her people, their bright, beautiful hopes and dreams. “It’s not stupid,” she says hollowly. “I believe in that, too. But I think if we want change, we’re going to have to make that happen ourselves, not wait for them to grow a heart.”

  _“But why?”_ asks Bonzo. _“Why us and not them?”_ His voice grows smaller, sounding like a bewildered kid. _“Why do we have to fight for what we should have?”_

 “We shouldn’t.” Eliza’s hands ball into fists. “But I’m done. I’m sick and tired of waiting for equality to show up on my doorstep. One way or another, I’m going to drag it from its house into the streets, kicking and screaming.”

 “Fight fire with fire and we’ll all burn, Eliza,” Zed points out tiredly.

 Eliza grits her teeth. “Why not? Humans are flammable, too. I say _let us all burn._ ”

 There’s a beat of shocked silence.

 Humorlessly, Zed says, “I’m pretty sure that’s what about to happen.”

 Eliza locks eyes with him. “But I don’t see any humans back here with us,” she retorts. “Do you?”

 Zed opens his mouth, but closes it and lapses into silence as the patrol officers finally open the doors and swing themselves in, taking their time with their seatbelts. All the anger and bitterness promptly washes away, only to be replaced with fear. Dread and fear.

 When she looks at her friends, she can see it mirrored in their eyes, wide and frightened in the dark.

  _“What’re we going to do?”_ Bonzo asks in a low whisper.

 Nothing. They can’t do anything. Zed’s shaking his head slowly, and when Eliza meets his gaze, he mouths, _I’m sorry._

 The officers start the engine and the vehicle thrums to life, humming around them. Then the three of them are going, heading toward an uncertain fate.

**Author's Note:**

> Irrelevant, but I think Disney could have handled Eliza's character a little better, because in some way she did have the right idea - when things won’t change, you change them. I understand and appreciate the way they handled things at the end, but I was disappointed about how her activism was...dismissed, in a way? It's a good movie, though - I watched it by accident and surprisingly enjoyed it.


End file.
